[Vwdiesel] Re: radiator pressure testing

[Val Christian]

I have an old Rabbit expansion bottle cap, regasketed and with a tire stem
on it.  Setting the compressed air regulator to a lower setting is a
good idea.  When there's little air in the system, it pressurizes
very quickly.  15 to 18 pounds pressure is the highest you need to 
go, as the "standard cap" is about 1 atmosphere, which is about 14.7
pounds.  

The nice thing about this setup is that be watching the system pressure
drop (or hoses becoming less firm), you can get a sense of whether there
are slower leaks or not.  

Unfortunately, the old Rabbit cap won't work in my  91 jetta.

Val

ps: If it's real quiet in your garage, you can often hear the leaks.



> 
> Fairly low pressure system.  Start with the exhaust from a shop vac, or 
> the wife's vacuum if you can plumb a line from the exhaust outlet on 
> it.  Another method would be to plug one of the outlets and then rig a 
> long piece of pipe on the other end.  Then fill the radiator and the 
> stand pipe.  This will give you a certain amount of pressure, depending 
> on how much water you have in the standpipe.  One of the sharper minds 
> on the list could probably dredge up a formula to calculate this.  Don't 
> exceed the amount of psi that is called out for when doing a coolant 
> system pressure check on the whole system.  I think it is around 15 psi, 
> but don't qoute me on it as I haven't had my cup of morning caffeine and 
> numbers are suspect. (so is spelling)
> Justin
> 
> >
> >Found a rad for my transporter and there's a dirty patch on one side and a
> >bit of green, clogged with dust or something.  Want to pressure test it
> >myself. Any ideas on what sort of pressure to use? Also, to clean it up a
> >bit without damaging it, solvents? air? Any reliable methods?
> >
> >Thanks....  take care...
> >
> >Rod
> >Värtsilä
> >Finland      
> >  
> >
> 
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